Information bits for polar codes with mixed criteria

ABSTRACT

According to some embodiments, a method performed by a wireless device for polar encoding payload bits comprises: identifying payload bits of a data channel that have known values; placing a first subset of the known payload bits at input positions of a polar encoder that correspond to the earliest decoding bit positions of the polar encoder; placing a second subset of the known payload bits at input positions of the polar encoder that correspond to the least reliable decoding bit positions of the polar encoder after placement of the first subset of the known payload bits; and transmitting the polar encoded payload bits to a wireless receiver. The first subset of the known payload bits are placed in earliest decoding bit positions to improve early termination gain. The second subset of the known payload bits are placed in least reliable decoding bit positions to enhance error performance.

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/IB2018/059180, filed Nov. 21, 2018, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/590,520, filed Nov. 24, 2017, thedisclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Particular embodiments are directed to wireless communications and, moreparticularly, to polar coding and selection of information bit placementbased on mixed criteria.

INTRODUCTION

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according totheir ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless adifferent meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context inwhich it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus,component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referringto at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means,step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise.

The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed inthe exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described asfollowing or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that astep must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of theembodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment,wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodimentsmay apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives,features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparentfrom the following description.

Polar codes, proposed by E. Arikan, “Channel Polarization: A Method forConstructing Capacity-Achieving Codes for Symmetric Binary-InputMemoryless Channels,” IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. 55,pp. 3051-3073, July 2009, are a class of constructive coding schemesthat achieve the symmetric capacity of the binary-input discretememoryless channels under a low-complexity successive cancellation (SC)decoder. The finite-length performance of polar codes under SC, however,is not competitive compared to other modern channel coding schemes suchas low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes and Turbo codes. An SC list(SCL) decoder is proposed in I. Tal and A. Vardy, “List Decoding ofpolar codes,” Proceedings of IEEE Symp. Inf. Theory, pp. 1-5, 2011, thatapproaches the performance of optimal maximum-likelihood (ML) decoder.By concatenating a simple cyclic redundancy check (CRC) coding, theperformance of a concatenated polar code is competitive with that ofwell-optimized LDPC and Turbo codes. As a result, polar codes are beingconsidered as a candidate for future fifth generation (5G) wirelesscommunication systems.

Polar coding transforms a pair of identical binary-input channels intotwo distinct channels of different qualities, one better and one worsethan the original binary-input channel. Repeating such a pair-wisepolarizing operation on a set of N=2^(n) independent uses of abinary-input channel results in a set of 2^(n) “bit-channels” of varyingqualities. Some of the bit channels are nearly perfect (i.e., errorfree) while the rest of them are nearly useless (i.e., totally noisy).

Polar coding uses the nearly perfect channel to transmit data to thereceiver and sets the input to the useless channels to have fixed orfrozen values (e.g., 0) known to the receiver. For this reason, theinput bits to the nearly useless and the nearly perfect channel arecommonly referred to as frozen bits and non-frozen (or information)bits, respectively. Only the non-frozen bits are used to carry data in apolar code. Loading the data into the proper information bit locationshas direct impact on the performance of a polar code. The set ofinformation bit locations is commonly referred to as an information set.An illustration of the structure of a length-8 polar code is illustratedin FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 illustrates the labeling of the intermediate information bitss_(l,i), where l∈{0, 1, . . . , n} and i∈{0, 1, . . . , N−1} duringpolar encoding with N=8. The intermediate information bits are relatedby the following equation:

s_(l + 1, i) = s_(l, i) ⊕ s_(l, i + 2^(l)), for$i \in {\left\{ {{{j \in \left\{ {0,1,\ldots\mspace{14mu},{N - 1}} \right\}}:{{mod}\left( {\left\lfloor \frac{j}{2^{l}} \right\rfloor,2} \right)}} = 0} \right\}\mspace{14mu}{and}}$l ∈ {0, 1, …  , n − 1}, and s_(l + 1, i + 2^(l)) = s_(l, i + 2^(l)), for$i \in {\left\{ {{{j \in \left\{ {0,1,\ldots\mspace{14mu},{N - 1}} \right\}}:{{mod}\left( {\left\lfloor \frac{j}{2^{l}} \right\rfloor,2} \right)}} = 0} \right\}\mspace{14mu}{and}}$l ∈ {0, 1, …  , n − 1}

-   -   where s_(0,i)␣u_(i) are the information bits and s_(n,i)≡x_(i)        are the code bits for i∈{0, 1, . . . , N−1}.

The reliability of bit channels can be sorted into a polar informationsequence, which specifies the index of the bit channels of any givenreliability rank.

In the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) fifth generation (5G)new radio (NR) standard, the polar information sequence, or just polarsequence, Q₀ ^(N) ^(max) ⁻¹={Q₀ ^(N) ^(max) , Q₁ ^(N) ^(max) , . . . ,Q_(N) _(max) ₋₁ ^(N) ^(max) } is given by Table 1 below, where 0≤Q_(i)^(N) ^(max) ≤N_(max)−1 denotes a bit index before polar encoding fori=0, 1, . . . , N−1 and N_(max)=1024. The polar sequence Q₀ ^(N) ^(max)⁻¹ is in ascending order of reliability W(Q₀ ^(N) ^(max) )<W(Q₁ ^(N)^(max) )< . . . <W(Q_(N) _(max) ₋₁ ^(N) ^(max) ), where W(Q_(i) ^(N)^(max) ) denotes the reliability of bit index Q_(i) ^(N) ^(max) .

For any code block encoded to N bits, the same polar sequence Q₀^(N-1)={Q₀ ^(N), Q₁ ^(N), Q₂ ^(N), . . . , Q_(N-1) ^(N)} is used. Thepolar sequence Q₀ ^(N-1) is a subset of polar sequence Q₀ ^(N) ^(max) ⁻¹with all elements Q_(i) ^(N) ^(max) of values less than N, ordered inascending order of reliability W(Q₀ ^(N))<W(Q₁ ^(N))<W(Q₂ ^(N))< . . .<W(Q_(N-1) ^(N)).

TABLE 1 Polar sequence Q₀ ^(N) _(max) ⁻¹ and its correspondingreliability W(Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) ) W W W W W W W W (Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) )Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) (Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) ) Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) (Q_(i) ^(N)_(max) ) Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) (Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) ) Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) (Q_(i)^(N) _(max) ) Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) (Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) ) Q_(i) ^(N) _(max)(Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) ) Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) (Q_(i) ^(N) _(max) ) Q_(i) ^(N)_(max) 0 0 128 518 256 94 384 214 512 364 640 414 768 819 896 966 1 1129 54 257 204 385 309 513 654 641 223 769 814 897 755 2 2 130 83 258298 386 188 514 659 642 663 770 439 898 859 3 4 131 57 259 400 387 449515 335 643 692 771 929 899 940 4 8 132 521 260 608 388 217 516 480 644835 772 490 900 830 5 16 133 112 261 352 389 408 517 315 645 619 773 623901 911 6 32 134 135 262 325 390 609 518 221 646 472 774 671 902 871 7 3135 78 263 533 391 596 519 370 647 455 775 739 903 639 8 5 136 289 264155 392 551 520 613 648 796 776 916 904 888 9 64 137 194 265 210 393 650521 422 649 809 777 463 905 479 10 9 138 85 266 305 394 229 522 425 650714 778 843 906 946 11 6 139 276 267 547 395 159 523 451 651 721 779 381907 750 12 17 140 522 268 300 396 420 524 614 652 837 780 497 908 969 1310 141 58 269 109 397 310 525 543 653 716 781 930 909 508 14 18 142 168270 184 398 541 526 235 654 864 782 821 910 861 15 128 143 139 271 534399 773 527 412 655 810 783 726 911 757 16 12 144 99 272 537 400 610 528343 656 606 784 961 912 970 17 33 145 86 273 115 401 657 529 372 657 912785 872 913 919 18 65 146 60 274 167 402 333 530 775 658 722 786 492 914875 19 20 147 280 275 225 403 119 531 317 659 696 787 631 915 862 20 256148 89 276 326 404 600 532 222 660 377 788 729 916 758 21 34 149 290 277306 405 339 533 426 661 435 789 700 917 948 22 24 150 529 278 772 406218 534 453 662 817 790 443 918 977 23 36 151 524 279 157 407 368 535237 663 319 791 741 919 923 24 7 152 196 280 656 408 652 536 559 664 621792 845 920 972 25 129 153 141 281 329 409 230 537 833 665 812 793 920921 761 26 66 154 101 282 110 410 391 538 804 666 484 794 382 922 877 27512 155 147 283 117 411 313 539 712 667 430 795 822 923 952 28 11 156176 284 212 412 450 540 834 668 838 796 851 924 495 29 40 157 142 285171 413 542 541 661 669 667 797 730 925 703 30 68 158 530 286 776 414334 542 808 670 488 798 498 926 935 31 130 159 321 287 330 415 233 543779 671 239 799 880 927 978 32 19 160 31 288 226 416 555 544 617 672 378800 742 928 883 33 13 161 200 289 549 417 774 545 604 673 459 801 445929 762 34 48 162 90 290 538 418 175 546 433 674 622 802 471 930 503 3514 163 545 291 387 419 123 547 720 675 627 803 635 931 925 36 72 164 292292 308 420 658 548 816 676 437 804 932 932 878 37 257 165 322 293 216421 612 549 836 677 380 805 687 933 735 38 21 166 532 294 416 422 341550 347 678 818 806 903 934 993 39 132 167 263 295 271 423 777 551 897679 461 807 825 935 885 40 35 168 149 296 279 424 220 552 243 680 496808 500 936 939 41 258 169 102 297 158 425 314 553 662 681 669 809 846937 994 53 96 181 386 309 199 437 616 565 840 693 441 821 487 949 751 5467 182 150 310 784 438 342 566 625 694 469 822 695 950 942 55 41 183 153311 179 439 316 567 238 695 247 823 746 951 996 56 144 184 165 312 228440 241 568 359 696 683 824 828 952 971 57 28 185 106 313 338 441 778569 457 697 842 825 753 953 890 58 69 186 55 314 312 442 563 570 399 698738 826 854 954 509 59 42 187 328 315 704 443 345 571 787 699 899 827857 955 949 60 516 188 536 316 390 444 452 572 591 700 670 828 504 956973 61 49 189 577 317 174 445 397 573 678 701 783 829 799 957 1000 62 74190 548 318 554 446 403 574 434 702 849 830 255 958 892 63 272 191 113319 581 447 207 575 677 703 820 831 964 959 950 64 160 192 154 320 393448 674 576 349 704 728 832 909 960 863 65 520 193 79 321 283 449 558577 245 705 928 833 719 961 759 66 288 194 269 322 122 450 785 578 458706 791 834 477 962 1008 67 528 195 108 323 448 451 432 579 666 707 367835 915 963 510 68 192 196 578 324 353 452 357 580 620 708 901 836 638964 979 69 544 197 224 325 561 453 187 581 363 709 630 837 748 965 95370 70 198 166 326 203 454 236 582 127 710 685 838 944 966 763 71 44 199519 327 63 455 664 583 191 711 844 839 869 967 974 72 131 200 552 328340 456 624 584 782 712 633 840 491 968 954 73 81 201 195 329 394 457587 585 407 713 711 841 699 969 879 74 50 202 270 330 527 458 780 586436 714 253 842 754 970 981 75 73 203 641 331 582 459 705 587 626 715691 843 858 971 982 76 15 204 523 332 556 460 126 588 571 716 824 844478 972 927 77 320 205 275 333 181 461 242 589 465 717 902 845 968 973995 78 133 206 580 334 295 462 565 590 681 718 686 846 383 974 765 79 52207 291 335 285 463 398 591 246 719 740 847 910 975 956 80 23 208 59 336232 464 346 592 707 720 850 848 815 976 887 81 134 209 169 337 124 465456 593 350 721 375 849 976 977 985 82 384 210 560 338 205 466 358 594599 722 444 850 870 978 997 83 76 211 114 339 182 467 405 595 668 723470 851 917 979 986 84 137 212 277 340 643 468 303 596 790 724 483 852727 980 943 96 43 224 526 352 645 480 647 608 689 736 797 864 918 9921009 97 98 225 177 353 593 481 348 609 374 737 906 865 502 993 955 98515 226 293 354 535 482 419 610 423 738 715 866 933 994 1004 99 88 227388 355 240 483 406 611 466 739 807 867 743 995 1010 100 140 228 91 356206 484 464 612 793 740 474 868 760 996 957 101 30 229 584 357 95 485680 613 250 741 636 869 881 997 983 102 146 230 769 358 327 486 801 614371 742 694 870 494 998 958 103 71 231 198 359 564 487 362 615 481 743254 871 702 999 987 104 262 232 172 360 800 488 590 616 574 744 717 872921 1000 1012 105 265 233 120 361 402 489 409 617 413 745 575 873 5011001 999 106 161 234 201 362 356 490 570 618 603 746 913 874 876 10021016 107 576 235 336 363 307 491 788 619 366 747 798 875 847 1003 767108 45 236 62 364 301 492 597 620 468 748 811 876 992 1004 989 109 100237 282 365 417 493 572 621 655 749 379 877 447 1005 1003 110 640 238143 366 213 494 219 622 900 750 697 878 733 1006 990 111 51 239 103 367568 495 311 623 805 751 431 879 827 1007 1005 112 148 240 178 368 832496 708 624 615 752 607 880 934 1008 959 113 46 241 294 369 588 497 598625 684 753 489 881 882 1009 1011 114 75 242 93 370 186 498 601 626 710754 866 882 937 1010 1013 115 266 243 644 371 646 499 651 627 429 755723 883 963 1011 895 116 273 244 202 372 404 500 421 628 794 756 486 884747 1012 1006 117 517 245 592 373 227 501 792 629 252 757 908 885 5051013 1014 118 104 246 323 374 896 502 802 630 373 758 718 886 855 10141017 119 162 247 392 375 594 503 611 631 605 759 813 887 924 1015 1018120 53 248 297 376 418 504 602 632 848 760 476 888 734 1016 991 121 193249 770 377 302 505 410 633 690 761 856 889 829 1017 1020 122 152 250107 378 649 506 231 634 713 762 839 890 965 1018 1007 123 77 251 180 379771 507 688 635 632 763 725 891 938 1019 1015 124 164 252 151 380 360508 653 636 482 764 698 892 884 1020 1019 125 768 253 209 381 539 509248 637 806 765 914 893 506 1021 1021 126 268 254 284 382 111 510 369638 427 766 752 894 749 1022 1022 127 274 255 648 383 331 511 190 639904 767 868 895 945 1023 1023

CRC interleaving may be used with polar coding. To improve theperformance of early decoding termination or block error rate, the inputto the polar encoder may be first interleaved after adding CRC bitscomputed based on a CRC polynomial. The interleaving distributes asubset of CRC bits among the CRC-interleaved payload bits.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the general operation ofCRC-interleaved polar encoding, which is also referred to as adistributed CRC method. The data bits u are first encoded using CRCencoder 10 whose output, referred to as payload bits, are interleavedusing CRC interleaver 12 to form the input of polar encoder core 14,which in turn generates the coded bits. The set of data bits may containbits with known or partially known values (shown as dashed lines in FIG.3), such as the timing bits or the reserved bits, which are placed inpositions that cannot be effectively used by the polar decoder.

In the 5G NR standard, the bit sequence c₀, c₁, c₂, c₃, . . . , c_(K-1)is interleaved into bit sequence c₀′, c₁′, c₂′, c₃′, . . . , c_(K-1)′ asfollows:c _(k) ′=c _(Π(k)) , k=0,1, . . . ,K−1where the interleaving pattern n(k) is given by the following:

   if I_(IL) = 0   Π(k) = k , k =0,1,...,K −1 else  k = 0 ;   for m = 0to K_(IL) ^(max) −1    if Π_(IL) ^(max)(m)≥K_(IL) ^(max) −K    Π(k)=Π_(IL) ^(max)(m)−(K_(IL) ^(max) −K);     k = k +1;   end if end for end ifwhere Π_(IL) ^(max)(m) is given by Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 Interleaving pattern Π_(IL) ^(max)(m) m Π_(IL) ^(max)(m) mΠ_(IL) ^(max)(m) m Π_(IL) ^(max)(m) m Π_(IL) ^(max)(m) m Π_(IL)^(max)(m) m Π_(IL) ^(max)(m) m Π_(IL) ^(max)(m) m Π_(IL) ^(max)(m) 0 028 50 56 119 84 173 112 45 140 152 168 90 196 197 1 2 29 54 57 121 85175 113 48 141 154 169 93 197 203 2 3 30 55 58 122 86 178 114 51 142 156170 96 198 73 3 5 31 57 59 125 87 179 115 56 143 159 171 104 199 78 4 632 59 60 126 88 180 116 58 144 162 172 107 200 98 5 8 33 60 61 127 89182 117 61 145 165 173 124 201 204 6 11 34 62 62 129 90 183 118 63 146167 174 134 202 99 7 12 35 64 63 130 91 186 119 65 147 169 175 139 203205 8 13 36 67 64 131 92 187 120 68 148 172 176 145 204 100 9 16 37 6965 132 93 189 121 70 149 174 177 157 205 206 10 19 38 74 66 136 94 192122 75 150 176 178 160 206 101 11 20 39 79 67 137 95 194 123 81 151 181179 163 207 207 12 22 40 80 68 141 96 198 124 87 152 184 180 177 208 20813 24 41 84 69 142 97 199 125 89 153 188 181 185 209 209 14 28 42 85 70143 98 200 126 92 154 190 182 191 210 210 15 32 43 86 71 147 99 1 127 95155 193 183 196 211 211 16 33 44 88 72 148 100 4 128 103 156 195 184 202212 212 17 35 45 91 73 149 101 7 129 106 157 201 185 27 213 213 18 37 4694 74 151 102 9 130 112 158 10 186 31 214 214 19 38 47 102 75 153 103 14131 115 159 15 187 53 215 215 20 39 48 105 76 155 104 17 132 117 160 18188 72 216 216 21 40 49 109 77 158 105 21 133 120 161 26 189 77 217 21722 41 50 110 78 161 106 23 134 123 162 30 190 83 218 218 23 42 51 111 79164 107 25 135 128 163 52 191 97 219 219 24 44 52 113 80 166 108 29 136133 164 66 192 108 220 220 25 46 53 114 81 168 109 34 137 138 165 71 193135 221 221 26 47 54 116 82 170 110 36 138 144 166 76 194 140 222 222 2749 55 118 83 171 111 43 139 150 167 82 195 146 223 223

5G NR communication systems can operate with carrier frequencies rangingfrom hundreds of MHz to hundreds of GHz. When operating in very highfrequency band, such as the millimeter-wave (mmW) bands (˜30-300 GHz),radio signals attenuate much more quickly with distance than those inlower frequency band (e.g., 1-3 GHz). Thus, to broadcast systeminformation to user equipment (UE) over the same intended coverage area,beamforming is typically used to achieve power gain to compensate thepath loss in high frequencies.

Because the signal coverage of each beam can be quite narrow when manyantennas are used to form the beam, the system information needs to bebroadcast or transmitted at a different beam direction one at a time.The process of transmitting signals carrying the same information usingbeams with different (azimuth and/or elevation) directions one at a timeis commonly referred to as beam sweeping.

Because typically only one of the many beams carrying the same systeminformation can reach a particular receiver with good signal strength,the receiver does not know the location of the received beam in theoverall radio frame structure. To enable the receiver to determine thestart and the end of a periodic radio frame, a time index is oftenincluded when broadcasting the system information through beam sweeping.

For example, FIG. 4 illustrates an example of how system information canbe broadcast together with a reference synchronization signal (SS)through beam sweeping. In FIG. 4, the system information is carried by aphysical channel, called new radio physical broadcast channel (NR-PBCH),which is transmitted in multiple synchronization blocks (SSB), eachbeamformed in a different direction. The SSBs are repeated within acertain NR-PBCH transmission time interval (TTI) (e.g., 80 ms in theillustrated example). Within a NR-PBCH TTI, the system informationcarried by NR-PBCH master information block (MIB) in each SSB is thesame. Each NR-PBCH also carries a time index for the receiver todetermine the radio frame boundaries. NR-PBCH may be encoded using polarcodes.

A preferred construction of the content of PBCH is shown below.

Information Number of bits Comment SFN 10 RMSI configuration 8 Includesall information needed to receive the PDCCH and PDSCH for RMSI includingRMSI presence flag, RMSI/MSG2/4 SCS, possible QCL indication, andindication of initial active bandwidth part(if needed). 8 bits is thetarget with exact number of bits to be confirmed. RMSI Numerology 1 SSblock time index 3 Only present for above 6 GHz Half frame indication 1“CellBarred” flag 2 1st PDSCH DMRS 1 Working assumption position PRBgrid offset 4 Working assumption Reserved bits [4] (sub 6 GHz) Therewill be at least 4 reserved bits. [1] (above 6 GHz) In addition,reserved bits are added to achieve byte alignment. Any additional agreedfields will reduce the number of reserved bits Reserved RAN2 1 CRC 24Aligned with PDCCH. Total including CRC 56 Working assumption

SUMMARY

Based on the description above, certain challenges currently exist. Forexample, A new radio physical broadcast channel (NR-PBCH), or anybroadcast channel, often carries a subset of bits that are either knownor partially known (e.g., a known relationship may exist betweenparticular bits and other bits in adjacent blocks). Examples of theknown or partially-known bits are timing bits (such as system framenumber (SFN) and SS Block Time Index, which are known to have a fixedincrement from one block to the next and may be known to the receiver incertain situations) and reserved bits (which are often set to knownvalue such as 0 when they are not used). In existing solutions, theknown or partially known bits are placed in arbitrary positions, whichdoes not enable the decoder to effectively use the known bit valuesduring the decoding process to optimize given performance criteria.

In addition, often two or more competing performance criteria affect thechoice of the placement of known or partially known bits. For example,minimizing the block error rate may be accomplished by placing the knownor partially known bits in the least reliable positions among the set ofthe most reliable positions for the given number of data bits.Alternatively, minimizing the decoding latency may be accomplished bymaximizing the early decoding termination rate to reduce latency andenergy consumption. This can be accomplished by placing the known orpartially known bits in the bit positions that are decoded earliest.However, to accomplish both goals, it is not clear how to place theknown and partially known bits to achieve a good compromise.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments mayprovide solutions to the challenges described above. Particularembodiments identify the payload bits of a new radio (NR) physicalbroadcast channel (PBCH) that have known values (typically all zero orsome hypothesized values based on their relationship with adjacentblocks) and a subset of the known or partially known bits that is suitedfor achieving the first performance criteria, such as the early decodingtermination gain. The subset of bits are placed accordingly to optimizethe first performance criteria. Another subset of the rest of the knownbits that is suitable for achieving the second performance criteria isidentified. The subset of bits are then placed accordingly to optimizethe second performance criteria. The process is repeated until allperformance criteria have been addressed. If known bits still remain,they may be placed arbitrarily.

Particular embodiments include a known-bit interleaver for the knownbits to compensate for the effect of bit-channel reliability orderingand cyclic redundancy check (CRC) interleaving so that the known orpartially known (timing or reserved) bits can be placed in anadvantageous position for the polar decoder to enhance performanceaccording to one or multiple criteria. The interleaver can be determinedby extracting the relevant known bits for each performance criteria oneat a time until all performance criteria have been addressed.

Alternatively, the known-bit interleaver may be effectively substitutedby a known-bit mapper that directly places the known bits intoadvantageous positions that satisfy the performance criteria at theinput of the CRC interleaver or at the input of the polar encoder.

A number of specific known-bit mappers of known or partially known bitsat the input of the CRC interleaver for the PBCH broadcast channel ofthe 5G-NR systems are presented that improve both the early terminationperformance and the block error performance. Particular embodimentsplace known bits to reach a compromise between competing performancecriteria.

According to some embodiments, a method performed by a wireless devicefor polar encoding payload bits comprises: identifying payload bits of adata channel that have known values; placing a first subset of the knownpayload bits at input positions of a polar encoder that correspond tothe earliest decoding bit positions of the polar encoder; placing asecond subset of the known payload bits at input positions of the polarencoder that correspond to the least reliable decoding bit positions ofthe polar encoder after placement of the first subset of the knownpayload bits; polar encoding the payload bits; and transmitting thepolar encoded payload bits to a wireless receiver.

In particular embodiments, the first subset of the known payload bitsare placed in earliest decoding bit positions to improve earlytermination gain. The second subset of the known payload bits are placedin least reliable decoding bit positions to enhance error performance.

The payload bits that have known values may include one or more reservedbits. In particular embodiments, the identified payload bits that haveknown values include a half frame indication (HFI) bit, one or more SSblock time index bits, and SFN bits. The first subset of the knownpayload bits may include HFI bit and one or more SS block time indexbits, and the second subset of the known payload bits may include SFNbits. The one or more SS block time index bits may comprise the threemost significant SS block time index bits. The SFN bits may comprise thesecond and third least significant SFN bits followed by the remainingSFN bits.

In particular embodiments, placing the first and second subset of knownbits comprises placing the bits using a bit interleaver or a bit mapper.In particular embodiments, the wireless transmitter comprises a networknode.

According to some embodiments, a wireless transmitter is configured topolar encode payload bits. The wireless transmitter comprises processingcircuitry operable to: identify payload bits of a data channel that haveknown values; place a first subset of the known payload bits at inputpositions of a polar encoder that correspond to the earliest decodingbit positions of the polar encoder; place a second subset of the knownpayload bits at input positions of the polar encoder that correspond tothe least reliable decoding bit positions of the polar encoder afterplacement of the first subset of the known payload bits; and transmitthe polar encoded payload bits to a wireless receiver.

In particular embodiments, the first subset of the known payload bitsare placed in earliest decoding bit positions to improve earlytermination gain. The second subset of the known payload bits are placedin least reliable decoding bit positions to enhance error performance.

In particular embodiments, the identified payload bits that have knownvalues include a HFI bit, one or more SS block time index bits, and SFNbits. The first subset of the known payload bits may include HFI bit andone or more SS block time index bits, and the second subset of the knownpayload bits may include SFN bits. The one or more SS block time indexbits may comprise the three most significant SS block time index bits.The SFN bits may comprise the second and third least significant SFNbits followed by the remaining SFN bits.

In particular embodiments, the processing circuitry operable to placethe first and second subset of known bits comprises a bit interleaver ora bit mapper. The wireless transmitter may comprise a network node.

According to some embodiments, a method performed by a wireless receiverfor polar decoding payload bits comprises receiving a wireless signalcorresponding to a data channel that includes payload bits that haveknown values and decoding the wireless signal.

According to some embodiments, a wireless receiver is configured topolar decode payload bits. The wireless receiver comprises processingcircuitry operable to receive a wireless signal corresponding to a datachannel that includes payload bits that have known values and polardecode the wireless signal.

The known payload bits include a first subset of the known payload bitsthat are polar decoded earliest of the payload bits in the data channeland a second subset of the known payload bits that are polar decodedwith least reliability of the payload bits in the data channel afterpolar decoding of the first subset of payload bits. In particularembodiments, the first subset of the known payload bits are in bitpositions that are decoded earliest to improve early termination gain.The second subset of the known payload bits are in the least reliablebit positions of the polar encoder after placement of the first subsetto enhance error performance.

In particular embodiments, the identified payload bits that have knownvalues include a HFI bit, one or more SS block time index bits, and SFNbits. The first subset of the known payload bits may include HFI bit andone or more SS block time index bits, and the second subset of the knownpayload bits may include SFN bits. The one or more SS block time indexbits may comprise the three most significant SS block time index bits.The SFN bits may comprise the second and third least significant SFNbits followed by the remaining SFN bits.

In particular embodiments, the wireless receiver comprises a networknode.

According to some embodiments, a wireless transmitter is configured topolar encode payload bits. The wireless transmitter comprises anencoding unit and a transmitting unit. The encoding unit is operable to:identify payload bits of a data channel that have known values; place afirst subset of the known payload bits at input positions of a polarencoder that correspond to the earliest decoding bit positions of thepolar encoder; place a second subset of the known payload bits at inputpositions of the polar encoder that correspond to the least reliabledecoding bit positions of the polar encoder after placement of the firstsubset of the known payload bits; and polar encode the payload bits. Thetransmitting unit is operable to transmit the polar encoded payload bitsto a wireless receiver.

According to some embodiments, a wireless receiver is configured topolar decode payload bits. The wireless receiver comprises a receivingunit and a decoding unit. The receiving unit is operable to receive awireless signal corresponding to a data channel that includes payloadbits that have known values. The decoding unit is operable to polardecode the wireless signal. The known payload bits include a firstsubset of the known payload bits that are polar decoded earliest of thepayload bits in the data channel and a second subset of the knownpayload bits that are polar decoded with least reliability of thepayload bits in the data channel after polar decoding of the firstsubset of payload bits.

Also disclosed is a computer program product comprising a non-transitorycomputer readable medium storing computer readable program code, thecomputer readable program code operable, when executed by processingcircuitry, to perform any of the methods performed by the wirelesstransmitter described above.

Another computer program product comprises a non-transitory computerreadable medium storing computer readable program code, the computerreadable program code operable, when executed by processing circuitry,to perform any of the methods performed by the wireless receiverdescribed above.

There are, proposed herein, various embodiments which address one ormore of the issues disclosed herein. Certain embodiments may provide oneor more of the following technical advantages. A particular advantage isthat multiple, mixed performance criteria can be fulfilledsimultaneously. In particular, a specific placement of the known orpartially known bits may provide early termination benefits of PBCHdecoding and improve the error performance of the code (e.g., reducingthe block error rate). The former alone can be achieved by placing bitswith known values or partially known values in locations that will bedecoded first. The latter alone can be achieved by judiciously placingbits with known values in locations with lower reliability. Bits withunknown values are assigned to locations with higher reliability inpolar encoding. Thus, bits with unknown values are more likely to bedecoded correctly. However, with existing solutions it is unclear howmultiple criteria may be satisfied with the placement of known orpartially known bits. Particular embodiments determine specificplacements of the known or partially known bits to provide both earlytermination benefits and error performance enhancements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawing figures, incorporated in and forming a part ofthis specification, illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, andtogether with the description form a more complete understanding of theembodiments and their features and advantages.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a polar code structure with N=8;

FIG. 2 illustrates labelling of intermediate bits in a polar codeencoder with N=8;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating basic polar coding withdistributed CRC and known reserved bits embedded′

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of system information broadcast togetherwith a reference synchronization signal (SS) through beam sweeping;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example known bit interleaver,according to particular embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates a set of known bits to be placed in the earliestdecoding positions, according to particular embodiments;

FIGS. 7-14 illustrate various sets of known bits to be placed in the bitpositions with lowest reliabilities, according to particularembodiments;

FIG. 15 illustrates another set of known bits to be placed in theearliest decoding positions, according to particular embodiments;

FIGS. 16-18 illustrate various sets of known bits to be placed in thebit positions with lowest reliabilities, according to particularembodiments;

FIG. 19 illustrates another set of known bits to be placed in theearliest decoding positions, according to particular embodiments;

FIGS. 20-22 illustrate various sets of known bits to be placed in thebit positions with lowest reliabilities, according to particularembodiments;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating an example wireless network;

FIG. 24 illustrates an example user equipment, according to certainembodiments;

FIG. 25 illustrates a flowchart of an example method in a wirelesstransmitter for polar encoding payload bits, according to certainembodiments;

FIG. 26 illustrates a flowchart of an example method in a wirelessreceiver for polar decoding payload bits, according to certainembodiments;

FIG. 27 illustrates a schematic block diagram of two apparatuses in awireless network, according to certain embodiments;

FIG. 28 illustrates an example virtualization environment, according tocertain embodiments;

FIG. 29 illustrates an example telecommunication network connected viaan intermediate network to a host computer, according to certainembodiments;

FIG. 30 illustrates an example host computer communicating via a basestation with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection,according to certain embodiments;

FIG. 31 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented, according tocertain embodiments;

FIG. 32 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, according to certain embodiments;

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, according to certain embodiments; and

FIG. 34 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, according to certain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Particular embodiments are described more fully with reference to theaccompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained withinthe scope of the subject matter disclosed herein. The disclosed subjectmatter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments setforth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of exampleto convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

Particular embodiments include an additional interleaver for the knownbits to compensate for the effect of bit-channel reliability orderingand cyclic redundancy check (CRC) interleaving so that the known orpartially known (e.g., reserved) bits can be placed in an advantageousposition for the polar decoder to enhance performance according to oneor multiple criteria. The interleaver can be determined by extractingrelevant known bits for each performance criteria one at a time.

In some embodiments, the known-bit interleaver may be effectivelysubstituted by a known-bit mapper that directly places the known bitsinto advantageous positions that satisfy the performance criteria at theinput of the CRC interleaver or at the input of the polar encoder. Anexample is illustrated in FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example known-bit interleaver,according to particular embodiments. CRC encoder 10, interleaver 12, andpolar encoder 14 are similar to CRC encoder 10, interleaver 12, andpolar encoder 14 described with respect to FIG. 3. Known-bit interleaver16 interleaves known timing and/or reserved bits to compensate for theeffect of bit-channel reliability ordering and CRC interleaving so thatthe known or partially known (e.g., reserved) bits can be placed in anadvantageous position for the polar decoder to enhance performanceaccording to one or multiple criteria (e.g., early termination gain,enhanced error performance, etc.).

Network components, such as wireless device 110 and network node 160described with respect to FIG. 23, may include the componentsillustrated in FIG. 5. The components of FIG. 5 may be included in thetransceiver circuitry described with respect to FIG. 5, and may compriseany suitable combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller,microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor,application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array,or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination ofhardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to perform the stepsdescribed herein.

Particular embodiments may be described generally by the followingknown-bit placement procedure. A first step includes identifying payloadbits of NR PBCH that have known values (typically all zero or somehypothesized values based on their relationship with adjacent blocks)and a first subset of the known (or partially known) bits that issuitable for achieving first performance criteria, such as an earlydecoding termination gain. The bits in the first subset of bits areplaced accordingly to optimize the first performance criteria.

A second step includes identifying a second subset of the rest of theknown bits that is suitable for achieving the second performancecriteria. The second subset of bits are placed accordingly to optimizethe second performance criteria.

The method may return to the first step above until all performancecriteria have been addressed. If known bits remain, they may be placedarbitrarily.

Particular embodiments place known or partially known bits, such as thetiming bits (SFN, SS block time index, half frame indicator, etc.) orthe reserved bits to achieve both early termination benefits and errorperformance enhancements. In this case, the above procedure can bedescribed as the following.

A first step includes selecting a subset of known or partially knownbits, such as the SS Block Time index, that is suitable to improve theearly termination gain and then place the bits at the bit positions thatwill be decoded earliest. In PBCH in 5G NR for example, the bitpositions can be determined by the CRC interleaver mapping Π: {0, 1, . .. , K−1}→{0, 1, . . . , K−1}, where K=56 is the number of payload plusCRC bits. For example, when a set of S known bits are selected, thenthese bits are placed at locations with indices in the image set Π({0,1, . . . , S−1}) at the input of the CRC interleaver.

A second step includes placing the rest of the known (or partiallyknown) bits, such as half frame indicator, SFN, and unknown bits, suchas RMSI configuration, according to the reliability order based on themapping Q₀ ^(N-1): {0, 1, . . . , N−1}→{0, 1, . . . , N−1} (or W(.)) andΠ: {0, 1, . . . , K−1}→{0, 1, . . . , K−1}. Specifically, for example,the rest of the (K−S) soft bits are placed at locations with indices inthe image set Π(ϕ_(N)(Q₀ ^(N-1){N−S, N−S+1, . . . , N−1}))\{0, 1, . . ., S−1}) at the input of the CRC interleaver, where ϕ_(N): Q₀^(N-1)({N−S, N−S+1, . . . , N−1})→{0, 1, . . . , K−1} is a monotonicincreasing bijective mapping.

Particular embodiments include specific known-bit placement for PBCH in5G-NR. For the specific system of 5G-NR, particular embodiments may usevarious sets of known-bit placement strategies as described herein. Adirect known-bit mapping for each known bit to an index at the input ofCRC interleaver is presented in the associated table below for each setof known-bit placement strategies.

Example 1a

Known bits are placed at the earliest decoding positions to achieveearly termination benefits:

Indices for Placement before PBCH Bit Fields CRC Interleaver SS BlockTime Index (3 bits); [0, 2, 3]

An example is illustrated in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 illustrates a set of knownbits to be placed in the earliest decoding positions, according to aparticular embodiment.

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions to achieve errorperformance enhancements after placing the above bits:

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver SFN(2^(nd), 3^(rd) LSBs) (2 bits); 24, 6 Half Frame Indication (1 bit) 7SFN (1^(st), 4^(th), 5^(th) , . . . , 9^(th), 10^(th) 10, 30, 8, 17, 18,23, 16, 20, LSBs) (8 bits) Other PBCH Fields (42 bits) 11, 19, 29, 28,25, 21, 35, 4, 12, 41, 37, 26, 14, 42, 31, 13, 44, 32, 22, 34, 48, 5,27, 36, 33, 15, 38, 43, 46, 39, 45, 1, 49, 50, 9, 52, 40, 47, 51, 53,54, 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 illustrates a set of knownbits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 1b

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions to achieveearly termination benefits (an example is illustrated in FIG. 6):

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver SS BlockTime Index (3 bits); [0 2 3]

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions to achieve errorperformance enhancements after placing the above bits:

Indices for Placement before PBCH Bit Fields CRC Interleaver SFN(2^(nd), 3^(rd) LSBs) (2 bits); 24 6 SFN (1^(st), 4^(th), 5^(th), . . ., 9^(th), 10^(th) 7 10 30 8 17 18 23 16 LSBs) (8 bits) Half FrameIndication (1 bit) 20 Other PBCH Fields (42 bits) 11 19 29 28 25 21 35 412 41 37 26 14 42 31 13 44 32 22 34 48 5 27 36 33 15 38 43 46 39 45 1 4950 9 52 40 47 51 53 54 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 8. FIG. 8 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 1c

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions to achieveearly termination benefits (an example is illustrated in FIG. 6):

Indices for Placement before PBCH Bit Fields CRC Interleaver SS BlockTime Index (3 bits); [0 2 3]

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions to achieve errorperformance enhancements after placing the above bits:

Indices for Placement before PBCH Bit Fields CRC Interleaver Half FrameIndication (1 bit) 24 SFN (2^(nd), 3^(rd) LSBs) (2 bits); 6 7 SFN(1^(st), 4^(th), 5^(th) , . . . , 9^(th), 10^(th) 10 30 8 17 18 23 16 20LSBs) (8 bits) Other PBCH Fields (42 bits) 11 19 29 28 25 21 35 4 12 4137 26 14 42 31 13 44 32 22 34 48 5 27 36 33 15 38 43 46 39 45 1 49 50 952 40 47 51 53 54 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 1d

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions (to achieveearly termination benefits) (FIG. 6):

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver SS BlockTime Index (3 bits); [0 2 3]

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions (to achieveerror performance enhancements) after placing the above bits:

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver Half FrameIndication (1 bit) 24 SFN (1^(st), 4^(th), 5^(th) , . . . , 9^(th),10^(th) 6 7 10 30 8 17 18 23 LSBs) (8 bits) SFN (2^(nd), 3^(rd) LSBs) (2bits) 16 20 Other PBCH Fields (42 bits) 11 19 29 28 25 21 35 4 12 41 3726 14 42 31 13 44 32 22 34 48 5 27 36 33 15 38 43 46 39 45 1 49 50 9 5240 47 51 53 54 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 1e

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions (to achieveearly termination benefits) (FIG. 6):

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver SS BlockTime Index (3 bits); [0 2 3]

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions (to achieveerror performance enhancements) after placing the above bits:

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver SFN(1^(st), 4^(th), 5^(th) , . . . , 9^(th), 10^(th) 24 6 7 10 30 8 17 18LSBs) (8 bits) SFN (2^(nd), 3^(rd) LSBs) (2 bits); 23 16 Half FrameIndication (1 bit) 20 Other PBCH Fields (42 bits) 11 19 29 28 25 21 35 412 41 37 26 14 42 31 13 44 32 22 34 48 5 27 36 33 15 38 43 46 39 45 1 4950 9 52 40 47 51 53 54 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 11. FIG. 11 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 1f

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions (to achieveearly termination benefits) (FIG. 6):

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver SS BlockTime Index (3 bits); [0 2 3]

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions (to achieveerror performance enhancements) after placing the above bits:

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver SFN(1^(st), 4^(th), 5^(th) , . . . , 9^(th), 10^(th) 24 6 7 10 30 8 17 18LSBs) (8 bits) Half Frame Indication (1 bit) 23 SFN (2^(nd), 3^(rd)LSBs) (2 bits); 16 20 Other PBCH Fields (42 bits) 11 19 29 28 25 21 35 412 41 37 26 14 42 31 13 44 32 22 34 48 5 27 36 33 15 38 43 46 39 45 1 4950 9 52 40 47 51 53 54 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 12. FIG. 12 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 1g

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions (to achieveearly termination benefits) (FIG. 6):

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver SS BlockTime Index (3 bits); [0 2 3]

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions (to achieveerror performance enhancements) after placing the above bits:

PBCH Bit Fields Indices for Placement before CRC Interleaver Half FrameIndication 24 (1 bit) SFN (1^(st), 2^(nd), 3^(rd), . . . , 6 7 10 30 817 18 23 16 20 4^(th), 5^(th), . . . , 9^(th), 10^(th) LSBs) (10 bits)Other PBCH Fields 11 19 29 28 25 21 35 4 12 41 37 26 14 42 31 (42 bits)13 44 32 22 34 48 5 27 36 33 15 38 43 46 39 45 1 49 50 9 52 40 47 51 5354 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 13. FIG. 13 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 1h

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions (to achieveearly termination benefits) (FIG. 6):

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver SS BlockTime Index (3 bits); [0 2 3]

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions (to achieveerror performance enhancements) after placing the above bits:

PBCH Bit Fields Indices for Placement before CRC Interleaver Half FrameIndication 24 (1 bit) SFN (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6 7 10 30 8 17 18 23 1620 5th, . . . , 9th, 10th LSBs) (10 bits) Other PBCH Fields 11 19 29 2825 21 35 4 12 41 37 26 14 42 31 (42 bits) 13 44 32 22 34 48 5 27 36 3315 38 43 46 39 45 1 49 50 9 52 40 47 51 53 54 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 14. FIG. 14 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 2a

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions (to achieveearly termination benefits (FIG. 15):

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver SS BlockTime Index (3 bits); [0 2 3] Half Frame Indication (1 bit) 5

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions (to achieveerror performance enhancements) after placing the above bits:

PBCH Bit Fields Indices for Placement before CRC Interleaver SFN(2^(nd), 3^(rd) LSBs) 24, 6 (2 bits); SFN (1^(st), 4^(th), 5^(th), . . ., 7, 10, 30, 8, 17, 18, 23, 16, 9^(th), 10^(th) LSBs) (8 bits) OtherPBCH Fields 20, 11, 19, 29, 28, 25, 21, 35, 4, 12, 41, 37, 26, (42 bits)14, 42, 31, 13, 44, 32, 22, 34, 48, 27, 36, 33, 15, 38, 43, 46, 39, 45,1, 49, 50, 9, 52, 40, 47, 51, 53, 54, 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 16. FIG. 16 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 2b

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions (to achieveearly termination benefits (FIG. 15):

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver SS BlockTime Index (3 bits); [0 2 3] Half Frame Indication (1 bit) 5

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions (to achieveerror performance enhancements) after placing the above bits:

PBCH Bit Fields Indices for Placement before CRC Interleaver SFN(1^(st), 4^(th), 5^(th), . . . , 24, 6, 7, 10, 30, 8, 17, 18, 9^(th),10^(th) LSBs) (8 bits) SFN (2^(nd), 3^(rd) LSBs) 23, 16 (2 bits) OtherPBCH Fields 20, 11, 19, 29, 28, 25, 21, 35, 4, 12, 41, 37, 26, (42 bits)14, 42, 31, 13, 44, 32, 22, 34, 48, 27, 36, 33, 15, 38, 43, 46, 39, 45,1, 49, 50, 9, 52, 40, 47, 51, 53, 54, 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 17. FIG. 17 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 2c

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions (to achieveearly termination benefits (FIG. 15):

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver SS BlockTime Index (3 bits); [0 2 3] Half Frame Indication (1 bit) 5

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions (to achieveerror performance enhancements) after placing the above bits:

PBCH Bit Fields Indices for Placement before CRC Interleaver SFN(1^(st), 2^(nd), 3^(rd), 4^(th), 24, 6, 7, 10, 30, 8, 17, 18, 23, 16,5^(th), . . . , 9^(th), 10^(th) LSBs) (10 bits) Other PBCH Fields 20,11, 19, 29, 28, 25, 21, 35, 4, 12, 41, 37, 26, (42 bits) 14, 42, 31, 13,44, 32, 22, 34, 48, 27, 36, 33, 15, 38, 43, 46, 39, 45, 1, 49, 50, 9,52, 40, 47, 51, 53, 54, 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 18. FIG. 18 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 3a

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions (to achieveearly termination benefits (FIG. 19):

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver Half FrameIndication (1 bit); 0 SS Block Time Index (3 bits) [2 3 5]

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions (to achieveerror performance enhancements) after placing the above bits:

PBCH Bit Fields Indices for Placement before CRC Interleaver SFN(2^(nd), 3^(rd) LSBs) 24, 6 (2 bits); SFN (1^(st), 4^(th), 5^(th), . . ., 7, 10, 30, 8, 17, 18, 23, 16, 9^(th), 10^(th) LSBs) (8 bits) OtherPBCH Fields 20, 11, 19, 29, 28, 25, 21, 35, 4, 12, 41, 37, 26, (42 bits)14, 42, 31, 13, 44, 32, 22, 34, 48, 27, 36, 33, 15, 38, 43, 46, 39, 45,1, 49, 50, 9, 52, 40, 47, 51, 53, 54, 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 20. FIG. 20 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 3b

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions (to achieveearly termination benefits (FIG. 19):

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver Half FrameIndication (1 bit); 0 SS Block Time Index (3 bits) [2 3 5]

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions (to achieveerror performance enhancements) after placing the above bits:

PBCH Bit Fields Indices for Placement before CRC Interleaver SFN(1^(st), 4^(th), 5^(th), . . . , 24, 6, 7, 10, 30, 8, 17, 18, 9^(th),10^(th) LSBs) (8 bits) SFN (2^(nd), 3^(rd) LSBs) 23, 16 (2 bits) OtherPBCH Fields 20, 11, 19, 29, 28, 25, 21, 35, 4, 12, 41, 37, 26, (42 bits)14, 42, 31, 13, 44, 32, 22, 34, 48, 27, 36, 33, 15, 38, 43, 46, 39, 45,1, 49, 50, 9, 52, 40, 47, 51, 53, 54, 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 21. FIG. 21 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

Example 3c

Known bits to be placed at the earliest decoding positions (to achieveearly termination benefits (FIG. 19):

Indices for Placement PBCH Bit Fields before CRC Interleaver Half FrameIndication (1 bit); 0 SS Block Time Index (3 bits) [2 3 5]

Known bits to be placed at the least reliable positions (to achieveerror performance enhancements) after placing the above bits:

PBCH Bit Fields Indices for Placement before CRC Interleaver SFN(1^(st), 2^(nd), 3^(rd), 4^(th), 24, 6, 7, 10, 30, 8, 17, 18, 23, 16,5^(th), . . . , 9^(th), 10^(th) LSBs) (10 bits) Other PBCH Fields 20,11, 19, 29, 28, 25, 21, 35, 4, 12, 41, 37, 26, (42 bits) 14, 42, 31, 13,44, 32, 22, 34, 48, 27, 36, 33, 15, 38, 43, 46, 39, 45, 1, 49, 50, 9,52, 40, 47, 51, 53, 54, 55

An example is illustrated in FIG. 22. FIG. 22 illustrates another set ofknown bits to be placed in the bit positions with lowest reliabilities,according to a particular embodiment.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example wireless network, according to certainembodiments. The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with anytype of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radionetwork or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, thewireless network may be configured to operate according to specificstandards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus,particular embodiments of the wireless network may implementcommunication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications(GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long TermEvolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards;wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard,such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax),Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network 106 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks,IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet datanetworks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local areanetworks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks,wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks toenable communication between devices.

Network node 160 and WD 110 comprise various components described inmore detail below. These components work together to provide networknode and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wirelessconnections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, thewireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks,network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relaystations, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate orparticipate in the communication of data and/or signals whether viawired or wireless connections.

As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured,arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with awireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in thewireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to thewireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration)in the wireless network.

Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points(APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio basestations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Basestations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide(or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and may then alsobe referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro basestations, or macro base stations.

A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling arelay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of adistributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/orremote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads(RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with anantenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radiobase station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antennasystem (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodes includemulti-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, networkcontrollers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base stationcontrollers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmissionpoints, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities(MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SONnodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs.

As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node asdescribed in more detail below. More generally, however, network nodesmay represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable,configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide awireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide someservice to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

In FIG. 23, network node 160 includes processing circuitry 170, devicereadable medium 180, interface 190, auxiliary equipment 184, powersource 186, power circuitry 187, and antenna 162. Although network node160 illustrated in the example wireless network of FIG. 23 may representa device that includes the illustrated combination of hardwarecomponents, other embodiments may comprise network nodes with differentcombinations of components.

It is to be understood that a network node comprises any suitablecombination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks,features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, while thecomponents of network node 160 are depicted as single boxes locatedwithin a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, anetwork node may comprise multiple different physical components thatmake up a single illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium 180may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAMmodules).

Similarly, network node 160 may be composed of multiple physicallyseparate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or aBTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their ownrespective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 160comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components),one or more of the separate components may be shared among severalnetwork nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeB's.In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in someinstances be considered a single separate network node.

In some embodiments, network node 160 may be configured to supportmultiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, somecomponents may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 180for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., thesame antenna 162 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 160 may alsoinclude multiple sets of the various illustrated components fordifferent wireless technologies integrated into network node 160, suchas, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wirelesstechnologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into thesame or different chip or set of chips and other components withinnetwork node 160.

Processing circuitry 170 is configured to perform any determining,calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations)described herein as being provided by a network node. These operationsperformed by processing circuitry 170 may include processing informationobtained by processing circuitry 170 by, for example, converting theobtained information into other information, comparing the obtainedinformation or converted information to information stored in thenetwork node, and/or performing one or more operations based on theobtained information or converted information, and as a result of saidprocessing making a determination.

Processing circuitry 170 may comprise a combination of one or more of amicroprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit,digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, fieldprogrammable gate array, or any other suitable computing device,resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logicoperable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other networknode 160 components, such as device readable medium 180, network node160 functionality.

For example, processing circuitry 170 may execute instructions stored indevice readable medium 180 or in memory within processing circuitry 170.Such functionality may include providing any of the various wirelessfeatures, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments,processing circuitry 170 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 170 may include one or more ofradio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 172 and baseband processingcircuitry 174. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceivercircuitry 172 and baseband processing circuitry 174 may be on separatechips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units anddigital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceivercircuitry 172 and baseband processing circuitry 174 may be on the samechip or set of chips, boards, or units

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality describedherein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or othersuch network device may be performed by processing circuitry 170executing instructions stored on device readable medium 180 or memorywithin processing circuitry 170. In alternative embodiments, some or allof the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 170 withoutexecuting instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readablemedium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments,whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storagemedium or not, processing circuitry 170 can be configured to perform thedescribed functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality arenot limited to processing circuitry 170 alone or to other components ofnetwork node 160 but are enjoyed by network node 160 as a whole, and/orby end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium 180 may comprise any form of volatile ornon-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation,persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory,magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removablestorage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or aDigital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile,non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devicesthat store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used byprocessing circuitry 170. Device readable medium 180 may store anysuitable instructions, data or information, including a computerprogram, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules,code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executedby processing circuitry 170 and, utilized by network node 160. Devicereadable medium 180 may be used to store any calculations made byprocessing circuitry 170 and/or any data received via interface 190. Insome embodiments, processing circuitry 170 and device readable medium180 may be considered to be integrated.

Interface 190 is used in the wired or wireless communication ofsignaling and/or data between network node 160, network 106, and/or WDs110. As illustrated, interface 190 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 194 tosend and receive data, for example to and from network 106 over a wiredconnection. Interface 190 also includes radio front end circuitry 192that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna162.

Radio front end circuitry 192 comprises filters 198 and amplifiers 196.Radio front end circuitry 192 may be connected to antenna 162 andprocessing circuitry 170. Radio front end circuitry may be configured tocondition signals communicated between antenna 162 and processingcircuitry 170. Radio front end circuitry 192 may receive digital datathat is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wirelessconnection. Radio front end circuitry 192 may convert the digital datainto a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidthparameters using a combination of filters 198 and/or amplifiers 196. Theradio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 162. Similarly, whenreceiving data, antenna 162 may collect radio signals which are thenconverted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 192. Thedigital data may be passed to processing circuitry 170. In otherembodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/ordifferent combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node 160 may not includeseparate radio front end circuitry 192, instead, processing circuitry170 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected toantenna 162 without separate radio front end circuitry 192. Similarly,in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 172 may beconsidered a part of interface 190. In still other embodiments,interface 190 may include one or more ports or terminals 194, radiofront end circuitry 192, and RF transceiver circuitry 172, as part of aradio unit (not shown), and interface 190 may communicate with basebandprocessing circuitry 174, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

Antenna 162 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays,configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 162 may becoupled to radio front end circuitry 190 and may be any type of antennacapable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. Insome embodiments, antenna 162 may comprise one or more omni-directional,sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signalsbetween, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. An omni-directional antenna maybe used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sectorantenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals from deviceswithin a particular area, and a panel antenna may be a line of sightantenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straightline. In some instances, the use of more than one antenna may bereferred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 162 may be separatefrom network node 160 and may be connectable to network node 160 throughan interface or port.

Antenna 162, interface 190, and/or processing circuitry 170 may beconfigured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtainingoperations described herein as being performed by a network node. Anyinformation, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device,another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly,antenna 162, interface 190, and/or processing circuitry 170 may beconfigured to perform any transmitting operations described herein asbeing performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signalsmay be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or anyother network equipment.

Power circuitry 187 may comprise, or be coupled to, power managementcircuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node 160with power for performing the functionality described herein. Powercircuitry 187 may receive power from power source 186. Power source 186and/or power circuitry 187 may be configured to provide power to thevarious components of network node 160 in a form suitable for therespective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed foreach respective component). Power source 186 may either be included in,or external to, power circuitry 187 and/or network node 160.

For example, network node 160 may be connectable to an external powersource (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interfacesuch as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source suppliespower to power circuitry 187. As a further example, power source 186 maycomprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery packwhich is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 187. Thebattery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also beused.

Alternative embodiments of network node 160 may include additionalcomponents beyond those shown in FIG. 23 that may be responsible forproviding certain aspects of the network node's functionality, includingany of the functionality described herein and/or any functionalitynecessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example,network node 160 may include user interface equipment to allow input ofinformation into network node 160 and to allow output of informationfrom network node 160. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic,maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node160.

As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable,configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly withnetwork nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, theterm WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE).Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receivingwireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infraredwaves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying informationthrough air.

In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit and/or receiveinformation without direct human interaction. For instance, a WD may bedesigned to transmit information to a network on a predeterminedschedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or inresponse to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include, but arenot limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voiceover IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming consoleor device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearableterminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, alaptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment(LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE). avehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A WD may supportdevice-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPPstandard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V),vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may inthis case be referred to as a D2D communication device.

As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT)scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that performsmonitoring and/or measurements and transmits the results of suchmonitoring and/or measurements to another WD and/or a network node. TheWD may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one example, the WD maybe a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT)standard. Examples of such machines or devices are sensors, meteringdevices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personalappliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables(e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.).

In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment thatis capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status orother functions associated with its operation. A WD as described abovemay represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case thedevice may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD asdescribed above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred toas a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device 110 includes antenna 111, interface 114,processing circuitry 120, device readable medium 130, user interfaceequipment 132, auxiliary equipment 134, power source 136 and powercircuitry 137. WD 110 may include multiple sets of one or more of theillustrated components for different wireless technologies supported byWD 110, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, orBluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wirelesstechnologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or setof chips as other components within WD 110.

Antenna 111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays,configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected tointerface 114. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 111 may beseparate from WD 110 and be connectable to WD 110 through an interfaceor port. Antenna 111, interface 114, and/or processing circuitry 120 maybe configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operationsdescribed herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, dataand/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another WD. Insome embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 111 may beconsidered an interface.

As illustrated, interface 114 comprises radio front end circuitry 112and antenna 111. Radio front end circuitry 112 comprise one or morefilters 118 and amplifiers 116. Radio front end circuitry 114 isconnected to antenna 111 and processing circuitry 120 and is configuredto condition signals communicated between antenna 111 and processingcircuitry 120. Radio front end circuitry 112 may be coupled to or a partof antenna 111. In some embodiments, WD 110 may not include separateradio front end circuitry 112; rather, processing circuitry 120 maycomprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 111.Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry122 may be considered a part of interface 114.

Radio front end circuitry 112 may receive digital data that is to besent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radiofront end circuitry 112 may convert the digital data into a radio signalhaving the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using acombination of filters 118 and/or amplifiers 116. The radio signal maythen be transmitted via antenna 111. Similarly, when receiving data,antenna 111 may collect radio signals which are then converted intodigital data by radio front end circuitry 112. The digital data may bepassed to processing circuitry 120. In other embodiments, the interfacemay comprise different components and/or different combinations ofcomponents.

Processing circuitry 120 may comprise a combination of one or more of amicroprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit,digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, fieldprogrammable gate array, or any other suitable computing device,resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logicoperable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD 110components, such as device readable medium 130, WD 110 functionality.Such functionality may include providing any of the various wirelessfeatures or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry120 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 130 or inmemory within processing circuitry 120 to provide the functionalitydisclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry 120 includes one or more of RFtransceiver circuitry 122, baseband processing circuitry 124, andapplication processing circuitry 126. In other embodiments, theprocessing circuitry may comprise different components and/or differentcombinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry120 of WD 110 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceivercircuitry 122, baseband processing circuitry 124, and applicationprocessing circuitry 126 may be on separate chips or sets of chips.

In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry124 and application processing circuitry 126 may be combined into onechip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 122 may be on aseparate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part orall of RF transceiver circuitry 122 and baseband processing circuitry124 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processingcircuitry 126 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet otheralternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 122,baseband processing circuitry 124, and application processing circuitry126 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In someembodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 122 may be a part of interface114. RF transceiver circuitry 122 may condition RF signals forprocessing circuitry 120.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality describedherein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processingcircuitry 120 executing instructions stored on device readable medium130, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storagemedium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality maybe provided by processing circuitry 120 without executing instructionsstored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such asin a hard-wired manner.

In any of those embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on adevice readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 120 can beconfigured to perform the described functionality. The benefits providedby such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 120 aloneor to other components of WD 110, but are enjoyed by WD 110, and/or byend users and the wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry 120 may be configured to perform any determining,calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations)described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, asperformed by processing circuitry 120, may include processinginformation obtained by processing circuitry 120 by, for example,converting the obtained information into other information, comparingthe obtained information or converted information to information storedby WD 110, and/or performing one or more operations based on theobtained information or converted information, and as a result of saidprocessing making a determination.

Device readable medium 130 may be operable to store a computer program,software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code,tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed byprocessing circuitry 120. Device readable medium 130 may includecomputer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory(ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media(e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or anyother volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/orcomputer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/orinstructions that may be used by processing circuitry 120. In someembodiments, processing circuitry 120 and device readable medium 130 maybe integrated.

User interface equipment 132 may provide components that allow for ahuman user to interact with WD 110. Such interaction may be of manyforms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment132 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the userto provide input to WD 110. The type of interaction may vary dependingon the type of user interface equipment 132 installed in WD 110. Forexample, if WD 110 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touchscreen; if WD 110 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through ascreen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or aspeaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected).

User interface equipment 132 may include input interfaces, devices andcircuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interfaceequipment 132 is configured to allow input of information into WD 110and is connected to processing circuitry 120 to allow processingcircuitry 120 to process the input information. User interface equipment132 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor,keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or otherinput circuitry. User interface equipment 132 is also configured toallow output of information from WD 110, and to allow processingcircuitry 120 to output information from WD 110. User interfaceequipment 132 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibratingcircuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry.Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, ofuser interface equipment 132, WD 110 may communicate with end usersand/or the wireless network and allow them to benefit from thefunctionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment 134 is operable to provide more specificfunctionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This maycomprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for variouspurposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wiredcommunications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliaryequipment 134 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source 136 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a batteryor battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external powersource (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or powercells, may also be used. WD 110 may further comprise power circuitry 137for delivering power from power source 136 to the various parts of WD110 which need power from power source 136 to carry out anyfunctionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 137 may incertain embodiments comprise power management circuitry.

Power circuitry 137 may additionally or alternatively be operable toreceive power from an external power source; in which case WD 110 may beconnectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet)via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable.Power circuitry 137 may also in certain embodiments be operable todeliver power from an external power source to power source 136. Thismay be, for example, for the charging of power source 136. Powercircuitry 137 may perform any formatting, converting, or othermodification to the power from power source 136 to make the powersuitable for the respective components of WD 110 to which power issupplied.

Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in anyappropriate type of system using any suitable components, theembodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wirelessnetwork, such as the example wireless network illustrated in FIG. 23.For simplicity, the wireless network of FIG. 23 only depicts network106, network nodes 160 and 160 b, and WDs 110, 110 b, and 110 c. Inpractice, a wireless network may further include any additional elementssuitable to support communication between wireless devices or between awireless device and another communication device, such as a landlinetelephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device.Of the illustrated components, network node 160 and wireless device (WD)110 are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network mayprovide communication and other types of services to one or morewireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices' access to and/oruse of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.

FIG. 24 illustrates an example user equipment, according to certainembodiments. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may not necessarilyhave a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates therelevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intendedfor sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or whichmay not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., asmart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a devicethat is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but whichmay be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., asmart power meter). UE 200 may be any UE identified by the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a machinetype communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. UE 200,as illustrated in FIG. 24, is one example of a WD configured forcommunication in accordance with one or more communication standardspromulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, theterm WD and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIG.24 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to aWD, and vice-versa.

In FIG. 24, UE 200 includes processing circuitry 201 that is operativelycoupled to input/output interface 205, radio frequency (RF) interface209, network connection interface 211, memory 215 including randomaccess memory (RAM) 217, read-only memory (ROM) 219, and storage medium221 or the like, communication subsystem 231, power source 233, and/orany other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 221includes operating system 223, application program 225, and data 227. Inother embodiments, storage medium 221 may include other similar types ofinformation. Certain UEs may use all the components shown in FIG. 24, oronly a subset of the components. The level of integration between thecomponents may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs maycontain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors,memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

In FIG. 24, processing circuitry 201 may be configured to processcomputer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 201 may beconfigured to implement any sequential state machine operative toexecute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computerprograms in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented statemachines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logictogether with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program,general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital SignalProcessor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combinationof the above. For example, the processing circuitry 201 may include twocentral processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a formsuitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 205 may be configuredto provide a communication interface to an input device, output device,or input and output device. UE 200 may be configured to use an outputdevice via input/output interface 205.

An output device may use the same type of interface port as an inputdevice. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to andoutput from UE 200. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, avideo card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, asmartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof.

UE 200 may be configured to use an input device via input/outputinterface 205 to allow a user to capture information into UE 200. Theinput device may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitivedisplay, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a webcamera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, adirectional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like.The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistivetouch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance,an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, amagnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another likesensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may bean accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and anoptical sensor.

In FIG. 24, RF interface 209 may be configured to provide acommunication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, areceiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface 211 may beconfigured to provide a communication interface to network 243 a.Network 243 a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as alocal-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network,a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like networkor any combination thereof. For example, network 243 a may comprise aWi-Fi network. Network connection interface 211 may be configured toinclude a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate withone or more other devices over a communication network according to oneor more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM,or the like. Network connection interface 211 may implement receiver andtransmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links(e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiverfunctions may share circuit components, software or firmware, oralternatively may be implemented separately.

RAM 217 may be configured to interface via bus 202 to processingcircuitry 201 to provide storage or caching of data or computerinstructions during the execution of software programs such as theoperating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 219 maybe configured to provide computer instructions or data to processingcircuitry 201. For example, ROM 219 may be configured to store invariantlow-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basicinput and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from akeyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory.

Storage medium 221 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM,programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory(EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks,removable cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, storage medium221 may be configured to include operating system 223, applicationprogram 225 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engineor another application, and data file 227. Storage medium 221 may store,for use by UE 200, any of a variety of various operating systems orcombinations of operating systems.

Storage medium 221 may be configured to include a number of physicaldrive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppydisk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive,thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc(HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray opticaldisc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive,external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcardmemory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity(SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storagemedium 221 may allow UE 200 to access computer-executable instructions,application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitorymemory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article ofmanufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may betangibly embodied in storage medium 221, which may comprise a devicereadable medium.

In FIG. 24, processing circuitry 201 may be configured to communicatewith network 243 b using communication subsystem 231. Network 243 a andnetwork 243 b may be the same network or networks or different networkor networks. Communication subsystem 231 may be configured to includeone or more transceivers used to communicate with network 243 b. Forexample, communication subsystem 231 may be configured to include one ormore transceivers used to communicate with one or more remotetransceivers of another device capable of wireless communication such asanother WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN)according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.2,CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver mayinclude transmitter 233 and/or receiver 235 to implement transmitter orreceiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links(e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 233 andreceiver 235 of each transceiver may share circuit components, softwareor firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions ofcommunication subsystem 231 may include data communication, voicecommunication, multimedia communication, short-range communications suchas Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communicationsuch as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine alocation, another like communication function, or any combinationthereof. For example, communication subsystem 231 may include cellularcommunication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPScommunication. Network 243 b may encompass wired and/or wirelessnetworks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN),a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network,another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network243 b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-fieldnetwork. Power source 213 may be configured to provide alternatingcurrent (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 200.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may beimplemented in one of the components of UE 200 or partitioned acrossmultiple components of UE 200. Further, the features, benefits, and/orfunctions described herein may be implemented in any combination ofhardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem231 may be configured to include any of the components described herein.Further, processing circuitry 201 may be configured to communicate withany of such components over bus 202. In another example, any of suchcomponents may be represented by program instructions stored in memorythat when executed by processing circuitry 201 perform the correspondingfunctions described herein. In another example, the functionality of anyof such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry 201and communication subsystem 231. In another example, thenon-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may beimplemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensivefunctions may be implemented in hardware.

FIG. 25 illustrates a flowchart of an example method in a wirelesstransmitter for polar encoding payload bits, according to certainembodiments. In particular embodiments, one or more steps of FIG. 25 maybe performed by or network node 160 described with respect to FIG. 23.

The method begins at step 2512, where the wireless transmitter (e.g.,network node 160) identifies payload bits of a data channel that haveknown values. As used herein, a known value refers to a value that awireless receiver either knows or can determine (i.e., partially known)without decoding the received payload bit. For example, the known valuemay be a predetermined constant (e.g., 0 for reserved fields) or may bedeterminable based on other information (e.g., an incrementing SFN, a SStime index, etc.).

At step 2514, the wireless transmitter places a first subset of theknown payload bits at input positions of a polar encoder that correspondto the earliest decoding bit positions of the polar encoder. Forexample, a first performance criterion may comprise early terminationgain, and the wireless transmitter may place the first subset of theknown payload bits in bit positions that are decoded earliest to improveearly termination gain.

As a specific example, the identified payload bits that have knownvalues include a HFI bit, one or more SS block time index bits, and SFNbits. The first subset of the known payload bits may include HFI bit andSS block time index bits. Other examples include any of the embodimentsdescribed with respect to FIGS. 6-22.

At step 2516, the wireless transmitter places a second subset of theknown payload bits at input positions of a polar encoder that correspondto the least reliable decoding bit positions of the polar encoder afterplacement of the first subset of the known payload bits. For example, asecond performance criterion may comprise enhanced error performance,and the wireless transmitter may place the second subset of the knownpayload bits in least reliable bit positions of the polar encoder toenhance error performance.

As a specific example, the identified payload bits that have knownvalues include a HFI bit, one or more SS block time index bits, and SFNbits. The second subset of the known payload bits may include SFN bits.Other examples include any of the embodiments described with respect toFIGS. 6-22.

At step 2518, the wireless transmitter polar encodes the payload bits.For example, with respect to FIG. 5, polar encoder 14 may polar encodethe payload bits from CRC encoder 10 and interleaver 12. Known bitinterleaver 16 placed the known bits at the proper inputs to CRC encoder10 so that after encoding and interleaving, the known bits are at thedesired inputs of polar encoder 14.

At step 2520, the wireless transmitter transmits the polar encodedpayload bits to a wireless receiver. The wireless receiver may decodethe payload bits according to method 2600 described with respect to FIG.26.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to method 2500 ofFIG. 25. Additionally, one or more steps in the method of FIG. 25 may beperformed in parallel or in any suitable order.

FIG. 26 illustrates a flowchart of an example method in a wirelessreceiver for receiving polar encoded payload bits, according to certainembodiments. In particular embodiments, one or more steps of FIG. 26 maybe performed by wireless device 110 described with respect to FIG. 23.

The method begins at step 2612, where the wireless receiver (e.g.,wireless device 110) receives a wireless signal corresponding to a datachannel that includes payload bits that have known values. The knownpayload bits include a first subset of the known payload bits that arepolar decoded earliest of the payload bits in the data channel and asecond subset of the known payload bits that are polar decoded withleast reliability of the payload bits in the data channel after polardecoding of the first subset of payload bits. For example, the payloadbits may have been encoded according to steps 2512-2518 described withrespect to FIG. 25.

At step 2614, the wireless receiver decodes the wireless signal. Thewireless receiver benefits from the known bit positions. For example,known bits may be positioned so that the wireless device can determineearly in the decoding process whether the decoding is successful.Minimizing the decoding latency may be accomplished by maximizing theearly decoding termination rate to reduce latency and energyconsumption. As another example, known bits may be positioned tominimize the block error rate. Known bits may be positioned in the leastreliable positions among the set of positions available.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to method 2600 ofFIG. 26. Additionally, one or more steps in the method of FIG. 26 may beperformed in parallel or in any suitable order.

FIG. 27 illustrates a schematic block diagram of two apparatuses in awireless network (for example, the wireless network illustrated in FIG.23). The apparatuses include a wireless device and a network node (e.g.,wireless device 110 or network node 160 illustrated in FIG. 23).Apparatuses 1600 and 1700 are operable to carry out the example methodsdescribed with reference to FIGS. 25 and 26, respectively, and possiblyany other processes or methods disclosed herein. It is also to beunderstood that the method of FIGS. 25 and 26 are not necessarilycarried out solely by apparatus 1600 and/or apparatus 1700. At leastsome operations of the method can be performed by one or more otherentities.

Virtual apparatuses 1600 and 1700 may comprise processing circuitry,which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, aswell as other digital hardware, which may include digital signalprocessors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. Theprocessing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored inmemory, which may include one or several types of memory such asread-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory, flash memorydevices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memoryincludes program instructions for executing one or moretelecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well asinstructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques describedherein, in several embodiments.

In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to causeencoding unit 1602, transmitting unit 1604, and any other suitable unitsof apparatus 1600 to perform corresponding functions according one ormore embodiments of the present disclosure. Similarly, the processingcircuitry described above may be used to cause receiving unit 1702,decoding unit 1704, and any other suitable units of apparatus 1700 toperform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure

As illustrated in FIG. 27, apparatus 1600 includes encoding unit 1602configured to: identify payload bits of a data channel that have knownvalues; place a first subset of the known payload bits at inputpositions of a polar encoder to optimize a first performance criterion;place a second subset of the known payload bits at input positions ofthe polar encoder to optimize a second performance criterion; and polarencode the payload bits. Apparatus 1600 also includes transmitting unit1604 configured to transmit polar encoded payload bits to a wirelessreceiver.

As illustrated in FIG. 27, apparatus 1700 includes receiving unit 1702configured to receive a wireless signal corresponding to a data channelthat includes payload bits that have known values. Apparatus 1700 alsoincludes decoding unit 1704 configured to polar decode a wirelesssignal.

FIG. 28 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualizationenvironment 300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments maybe virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creatingvirtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may includevirtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networkingresources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node(e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) orto a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type ofcommunication device) or components thereof and relates to animplementation in which at least a portion of the functionality isimplemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or moreapplications, components, functions, virtual machines or containersexecuting on one or more physical processing nodes in one or morenetworks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein maybe implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtualmachines implemented in one or more virtual environments 300 hosted byone or more of hardware nodes 330. Further, in embodiments in which thevirtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radioconnectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may beentirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 320 (whichmay alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances,network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.)operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefitsof some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications 320 are run invirtualization environment 300 which provides hardware 330 comprisingprocessing circuitry 360 and memory 390. Memory 390 containsinstructions 395 executable by processing circuitry 360 wherebyapplication 320 is operative to provide one or more of the features,benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment 300, comprises general-purpose orspecial-purpose network hardware devices 330 comprising a set of one ormore processors or processing circuitry 360, which may be commercialoff-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitryincluding digital or analog hardware components or special purposeprocessors. Each hardware device may comprise memory 390-1 which may benon-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 395 orsoftware executed by processing circuitry 360. Each hardware device maycomprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 370, alsoknown as network interface cards, which include physical networkinterface 380. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory,persistent, machine-readable storage media 390-2 having stored thereinsoftware 395 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 360.Software 395 may include any type of software including software forinstantiating one or more virtualization layers 350 (also referred to ashypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 340 as well assoftware allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefitsdescribed in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines 340, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory,virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by acorresponding virtualization layer 350 or hypervisor. Differentembodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 320 may be implementedon one or more of virtual machines 340, and the implementations may bemade in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry 360 executes software 395 toinstantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 350, which maysometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM).Virtualization layer 350 may present a virtual operating platform thatappears like networking hardware to virtual machine 340. As shown inFIG. 28, hardware 330 may be a standalone network node with generic orspecific components. Hardware 330 may comprise antenna 3225 and mayimplement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 330may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a datacenter or customer premise equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodeswork together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO)3100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications320.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to asnetwork function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidatemany network equipment types onto industry standard high-volume serverhardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be locatedin data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, virtual machine 340 may be a softwareimplementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they wereexecuting on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtualmachines 340, and that part of hardware 330 that executes that virtualmachine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/orhardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtualmachines 340, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).

Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) isresponsible for handling specific network functions that run in one ormore virtual machines 340 on top of hardware networking infrastructure330 and corresponds to application 320 in FIG. 18.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units 3200 that each include oneor more transmitters 3220 and one or more receivers 3210 may be coupledto one or more antennas 3225. Radio units 3200 may communicate directlywith hardware nodes 330 via one or more appropriate network interfacesand may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide avirtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or abase station.

In some embodiments, some signaling can be effected with the use ofcontrol system 3230 which may alternatively be used for communicationbetween the hardware nodes 330 and radio units 3200.

With reference to FIG. 29, in accordance with an embodiment, acommunication system includes telecommunication network 410, such as a3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network 411, such asa radio access network, and core network 414. Access network 411comprises a plurality of base stations 412 a, 412 b, 412 c, such as NBs,eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining acorresponding coverage area 413 a, 413 b, 413 c. Each base station 412a, 412 b, 412 c is connectable to core network 414 over a wired orwireless connection 415. A first UE 491 located in coverage area 413 cis configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, thecorresponding base station 412 c. A second UE 492 in coverage area 413 ais wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 412 a. Whilea plurality of UEs 491, 492 are illustrated in this example, thedisclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a soleUE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to thecorresponding base station 412.

Telecommunication network 410 is itself connected to host computer 430,which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standaloneserver, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or asprocessing resources in a server farm. Host computer 430 may be underthe ownership or control of a service provider or may be operated by theservice provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 421and 422 between telecommunication network 410 and host computer 430 mayextend directly from core network 414 to host computer 430 or may go viaan optional intermediate network 420. Intermediate network 420 may beone of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private orhosted network; intermediate network 420, if any, may be a backbonenetwork or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 420 maycomprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of FIG. 29 as a whole enables connectivitybetween the connected UEs 491, 492 and host computer 430. Theconnectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 450.Host computer 430 and the connected UEs 491, 492 are configured tocommunicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 450, using accessnetwork 411, core network 414, any intermediate network 420 and possiblefurther infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection 450may be transparent in the sense that the participating communicationdevices through which OTT connection 450 passes are unaware of routingof uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station 412 maynot or need not be informed about the past routing of an incomingdownlink communication with data originating from host computer 430 tobe forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 491. Similarly, basestation 412 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoinguplink communication originating from the UE 491 towards the hostcomputer 430.

FIG. 30 illustrates an example host computer communicating via a basestation with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection,according to certain embodiments. Example implementations, in accordancewith an embodiment of the UE, base station and host computer discussedin the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIG.30. In communication system 500, host computer 510 comprises hardware515 including communication interface 516 configured to set up andmaintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a differentcommunication device of communication system 500. Host computer 510further comprises processing circuitry 518, which may have storageand/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry 518may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specificintegrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations ofthese (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer 510further comprises software 511, which is stored in or accessible by hostcomputer 510 and executable by processing circuitry 518. Software 511includes host application 512. Host application 512 may be operable toprovide a service to a remote user, such as UE 530 connecting via OTTconnection 550 terminating at UE 530 and host computer 510. In providingthe service to the remote user, host application 512 may provide userdata which is transmitted using OTT connection 550.

Communication system 500 further includes base station 520 provided in atelecommunication system and comprising hardware 525 enabling it tocommunicate with host computer 510 and with UE 530. Hardware 525 mayinclude communication interface 526 for setting up and maintaining awired or wireless connection with an interface of a differentcommunication device of communication system 500, as well as radiointerface 527 for setting up and maintaining at least wirelessconnection 570 with UE 530 located in a coverage area (not shown in FIG.30) served by base station 520. Communication interface 526 may beconfigured to facilitate connection 560 to host computer 510. Connection560 may be direct, or it may pass through a core network (not shown inFIG. 30) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or moreintermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In theembodiment shown, hardware 525 of base station 520 further includesprocessing circuitry 528, which may comprise one or more programmableprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmablegate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to executeinstructions. Base station 520 further has software 521 storedinternally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system 500 further includes UE 530 already referred to.Its hardware 535 may include radio interface 537 configured to set upand maintain wireless connection 570 with a base station serving acoverage area in which UE 530 is currently located. Hardware 535 of UE530 further includes processing circuitry 538, which may comprise one ormore programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits,field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown)adapted to execute instructions. UE 530 further comprises software 531,which is stored in or accessible by UE 530 and executable by processingcircuitry 538. Software 531 includes client application 532. Clientapplication 532 may be operable to provide a service to a human ornon-human user via UE 530, with the support of host computer 510. Inhost computer 510, an executing host application 512 may communicatewith the executing client application 532 via OTT connection 550terminating at UE 530 and host computer 510. In providing the service tothe user, client application 532 may receive request data from hostapplication 512 and provide user data in response to the request data.OTT connection 550 may transfer both the request data and the user data.Client application 532 may interact with the user to generate the userdata that it provides.

It is noted that host computer 510, base station 520 and UE 530illustrated in FIG. 30 may be similar or identical to host computer 430,one of base stations 412 a, 412 b, 412 c and one of UEs 491, 492 of FIG.29, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entitiesmay be as shown in FIG. 27 and independently, the surrounding networktopology may be that of FIG. 29.

In FIG. 30, OTT connection 550 has been drawn abstractly to illustratethe communication between host computer 510 and UE 530 via base station520, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and theprecise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructuremay determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from UE530 or from the service provider operating host computer 510, or both.While OTT connection 550 is active, the network infrastructure mayfurther take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing(e.g., based on load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of thenetwork).

Wireless connection 570 between UE 530 and base station 520 is inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve theperformance of OTT services provided to UE 530 using OTT connection 550,in which wireless connection 570 forms the last segment. More precisely,the teachings of these embodiments may improve the signaling overheadand reduce latency, which may provide faster internet access for users.

A measurement procedure may be provided for monitoring data rate,latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve.There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguringOTT connection 550 between host computer 510 and UE 530, in response tovariations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/orthe network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 550 may beimplemented in software 511 and hardware 515 of host computer 510 or insoftware 531 and hardware 535 of UE 530, or both. In embodiments,sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association withcommunication devices through which OTT connection 550 passes; thesensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying valuesof the monitored quantities exemplified above or supplying values ofother physical quantities from which software 511, 531 may compute orestimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection550 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferredrouting etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station 520, and itmay be unknown or imperceptible to base station 520. Such procedures andfunctionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certainembodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signalingfacilitating host computer 510's measurements of throughput, propagationtimes, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in thatsoftware 511 and 531 causes messages to be transmitted, in particularempty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 550 while it monitorspropagation times, errors etc.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 29 and 30. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 31will be included in this section.

In step 610, the host computer provides user data. In substep 611 (whichmay be optional) of step 610, the host computer provides the user databy executing a host application. In step 620, the host computerinitiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 630(which may be optional), the base station transmits to the UE the userdata which was carried in the transmission that the host computerinitiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments describedthroughout this disclosure. In step 640 (which may also be optional),the UE executes a client application associated with the hostapplication executed by the host computer.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 29 and 30. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 32will be included in this section.

In step 710 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In anoptional substep (not shown) the host computer provides the user data byexecuting a host application. In step 720, the host computer initiates atransmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may passvia the base station, in accordance with the teachings of theembodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 730 (which maybe optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 29 and 30. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 33will be included in this section.

In step 810 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data providedby the host computer. Additionally, or alternatively, in step 820, theUE provides user data. In substep 821 (which may be optional) of step820, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. Insubstep 811 (which may be optional) of step 810, the UE executes aclient application which provides the user data in reaction to thereceived input data provided by the host computer. In providing the userdata, the executed client application may further consider user inputreceived from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which theuser data was provided, the UE initiates, in substep 830 (which may beoptional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step840 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmittedfrom the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodimentsdescribed throughout this disclosure.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 29 and 30. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 34will be included in this section.

In step 910 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings ofthe embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base stationreceives user data from the UE. In step 920 (which may be optional), thebase station initiates transmission of the received user data to thehost computer. In step 930 (which may be optional), the host computerreceives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the basestation.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics,electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, forexample, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules,processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices,computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks,procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and soon, as such as those that are described herein.

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according totheir ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless adifferent meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context inwhich it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus,component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referringto at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means,step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methodsdisclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact orderdisclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following orpreceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step mustfollow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodimentsdisclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, whereverappropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may applyto any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features andadvantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from thefollowing description.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems andapparatuses disclosed herein without departing from the scope of theinvention. The components of the systems and apparatuses may beintegrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the systems andapparatuses may be performed by more, fewer, or other components.Additionally, operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performedusing any suitable logic comprising software, hardware, and/or otherlogic. As used in this document, “each” refers to each member of a setor each member of a subset of a set.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the methodsdisclosed herein without departing from the scope of the invention. Themethods may include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps maybe performed in any suitable order.

The foregoing description sets forth numerous specific details. It isunderstood, however, that embodiments may be practiced without thesespecific details. In other instances, well-known circuits, structuresand techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure theunderstanding of this description. Those of ordinary skill in the art,with the included descriptions, will be able to implement appropriatefunctionality without undue experimentation.

References in the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,”“an example embodiment,” etc., indicate that the embodiment describedmay include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, butevery embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature,structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarilyreferring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature,structure, or characteristic is described in connection with anembodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of oneskilled in the art to implement such feature, structure, orcharacteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or notexplicitly described.

Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certainembodiments, alterations and permutations of the embodiments will beapparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above descriptionof the embodiments does not constrain this disclosure. Other changes,substitutions, and alterations are possible without departing from thespirit and scope of this disclosure, as defined by the claims below.

At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in thisdisclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations,preference should be given to how it is used above. If listed multipletimes below, the first listing should be preferred over any subsequentlisting(s).

-   1×RTT CDMA2000 1× Radio Transmission Technology-   3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project-   5G 5th Generation-   ABS Almost Blank Subframe-   ARQ Automatic Repeat Request-   AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise-   BCCH Broadcast Control Channel-   BCH Broadcast Channel-   CA Carrier Aggregation-   CC Carrier Component-   CCCH SDU Common Control Channel SDU-   CDMA Code Division Multiplexing Access-   CGI Cell Global Identifier-   CIR Channel Impulse Response-   CP Cyclic Prefix-   CPICH Common Pilot Channel-   CPICH Ec/No CPICH Received energy per chip divided by the power    density in the band-   CQI Channel Quality information-   C-RNTI Cell RNTI-   CSI Channel State Information-   DCCH Dedicated Control Channel-   DL Downlink-   DM Demodulation-   DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal-   DRX Discontinuous Reception-   DTX Discontinuous Transmission-   DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel-   DUT Device Under Test-   E-CID Enhanced Cell-ID (positioning method)-   E-SMLC Evolved-Serving Mobile Location Centre-   ECGI Evolved CGI-   eNB E-UTRAN NodeB-   ePDCCH enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel-   E-SMLC evolved Serving Mobile Location Center-   E-UTRA Evolved UTRA-   E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN-   FDD Frequency Division Duplex-   GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network-   gNB Base station in NR-   GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System-   GSM Global System for Mobile communication-   HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request-   HO Handover-   HSPA High Speed Packet Access-   HRPD High Rate Packet Data-   IR-HARQ Incremental Redundancy HARQ-   LLR Log Likelikhood Ratio-   LOS Line of Sight-   LPP LTE Positioning Protocol-   LTE Long-Term Evolution-   MAC Medium Access Control-   MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services-   MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency    Network-   MBSFN ABS MBSFN Almost Blank Subframe-   MDT Minimization of Drive Tests-   MIB Master Information Block-   MME Mobility Management Entity-   MSC Mobile Switching Center-   NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel-   NR New Radio-   OCNG OFDMA Channel Noise Generator-   OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing-   OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access-   OSS Operations Support System-   OTDOA Observed Time Difference of Arrival-   O&M Operation and Maintenance-   PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel-   P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel-   PCell Primary Cell-   PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel-   PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel-   PDP Profile Delay Profile-   PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel-   PGW Packet Gateway-   PHICH Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel-   PLMN Public Land Mobile Network-   PMI Precoder Matrix Indicator-   PRACH Physical Random Access Channel-   PRS Positioning Reference Signal-   PSS Primary Synchronization Signal-   PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel-   PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel-   RACH Random Access Channel-   QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation-   RAN Radio Access Network-   RAT Radio Access Technology-   RLM Radio Link Management-   RNC Radio Network Controller-   RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier-   RRC Radio Resource Control-   RRM Radio Resource Management-   RS Reference Signal-   RSCP Received Signal Code Power-   RSRP Reference Symbol Received Power OR Reference Signal Received    Power-   RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality OR Reference Symbol Received    Quality-   RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator-   RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference-   SC Successive Cancellation-   SCH Synchronization Channel-   SCL Successive Cancellation List-   SCell Secondary Cell-   SDU Service Data Unit-   SFN System Frame Number-   SGW Serving Gateway-   SI System Information-   SIB System Information Block-   SNR Signal to Noise Ratio-   SON Self Optimized Network-   SS Synchronization Signal-   SSB Synchronization Signal Block-   SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal-   TDD Time Division Duplex-   TDOA Time Difference of Arrival-   TOA Time of Arrival-   TSS Tertiary Synchronization Signal-   TTI Transmission Time Interval-   UE User Equipment-   UL Uplink-   UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System-   USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module-   UTDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival-   UTRA Universal Terrestrial Radio Access-   UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network-   WCDMA Wide CDMA-   WLAN Wide Local Area Network

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a wirelesstransmitter for polar encoding payload bits, the method comprising:identifying non-frozen payload bits of a data channel that have valuesthat are known to a wireless receiver prior to transmission of thenon-frozen payload bits placing a first subset of the known non-frozenpayload bits at input positions of a polar encoder that correspond tothe earliest decoding bit positions of the polar encoder; placing asecond subset of the known non-frozen payload bits at input positions ofthe polar encoder that correspond to the least reliable decoding bitpositions of the polar encoder after placement of the first subset ofthe known non-frozen payload bits; polar encoding the non-frozen payloadbits; and transmitting the polar encoded non-frozen payload bits to thewireless receiver.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first subset ofthe known non-frozen payload bits are placed in earliest decoding bitpositions to improve early termination gain.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the second subset of the known non-frozen payload bits areplaced in least reliable decoding bit positions to enhance errorperformance.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identified non-frozenpayload bits that have known values include a half frame indication(HFI) bit, one or more synchronization signal (SS) block time indexbits, and system frame number (SFN) bits.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the first subset of the known non-frozen payload bits includes ahalf frame indication (HFI) bit and one or more synchronization signal(SS) block time index bits, and the second subset of the knownnon-frozen payload bits includes system frame number (SFN) bits.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the SS block time index bits comprise thethree most significant SS block time index bits.
 7. The method of claim5, wherein the second and third least significant bits of the SFN bitsare polar decoded with less reliability than the remaining SFN bits. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein placing the first and second subset ofknown non-frozen payload bits comprises placing the bits using a bitinterleaver or a bit mapper.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein thenon-frozen payload bits that have known values include one or morereserved bits.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the wirelesstransmitter comprises a network node.
 11. A method performed by awireless receiver for polar decoding payload bits, the methodcomprising: receiving a wireless signal corresponding to a data channelthat includes non-frozen payload bits that have values that are known tothe wireless receiver prior to reception of the non-frozen payload bits;polar decoding the wireless signal; and wherein the known non-frozenpayload bits include a first subset of the known non-frozen payload bitsthat are polar decoded earliest of the payload bits in the data channeland a second subset of the known non-frozen payload bits that are polardecoded with least reliability of the non-frozen payload bits in thedata channel after polar decoding of the first subset of knownnon-frozen payload bits.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the firstsubset of the known non-frozen payload bits are in bit positions thatare decoded earliest to improve early termination gain.
 13. The methodof claim 11, wherein the second subset of the known non-frozen payloadbits are in the least reliable bit positions of the polar encoder afterplacement of the first subset to enhance error performance.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the non-frozen payload bits that have knownvalues include a half frame indication (HFI) bit, one or moresynchronization signal (SS) block time index bits, and system framenumber (SFN) bits.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein the first subsetof the known non-frozen payload bits includes a half frame indication(HFI) bit and one or more synchronization signal (SS) block time indexbits, and the second subset of the known payload bits includes systemframe number (SFN) bits.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the one ormore SS block time index bits comprise the three most significant SSblock time index bits.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the secondand third least significant bits of the SFN bits are polar decoded withless reliability than the remaining SFN bits.
 18. The method of claim11, wherein the non-frozen payload bits that have known values includeone or more reserved bits.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein thewireless receiver comprises a wireless device.
 20. A wireless receiverconfigured to polar decode payload bits, the wireless receivercomprising processing circuitry operable to: receive a wireless signalcorresponding to a data channel that includes non-frozen payload bitsthat have values that are known to the wireless receiver prior toreception of the non-frozen payload bits; polar decode the wirelesssignal; and wherein the known non-frozen payload bits include a firstsubset of the known non-frozen payload bits that are polar decodedearliest of the payload bits in the data channel and a second subset ofthe known non-frozen payload bits that are polar decoded with leastreliability of the payload bits in the data channel after polar decodingof the first subset of known non-frozen payload bits.